119th Congress Armed Forces and National Security
S. 418: Defending Defense Research from Chinese Communist Party Espionage Act of 2025
Introduced
- Introduced (completed)
- Passed Senate (not reached)
- Passed House (not reached)
- To the President (not reached)
- Became law (not reached)
Summary
This bill generally prohibits contracts between certain foreign entities and institutions of higher education that are conducting research funded by the Department of Defense (DOD), and it imposes a post-employment restriction on principal investigators of certain DOD-funded research projects.
Beginning on January 1, 2027, the bill generally prohibits institutions of higher education that conduct DOD-funded research from entering into contracts with North Korea, China, Russia, or Iran or a foreign entity of concern (e.g., an academic institution of China that meets certain criteria). DOD is prohibited from providing funds to such institutions unless the institution receives a waiver.
Institutions seeking to contract with the listed countries or entities, and those with existing contracts, must submit waiver requests to DOD. Waivers are valid for one year. Institutions with contracts that are longer than one year may apply to renew the waiver for an additional one-year period.
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The bill also generally imposes a post-employment restriction on individuals who serve as principal investigators of certain defense research projects, unless DOD waives the restriction. Specifically, for the 10 years following their employment as a principal investigator, an individual may not seek or accept employment or conduct any activity for which a foreign entity of concern provides compensation. This applies to principal investigators of projects that are (1) operated by an institution of higher education; (2) funded by DOD; and (3) involve a critical or emerging technology, as determined by DOD.
Written by the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
Roll calls
No roll call votes have been held on this bill.
Amendments
No amendments were offered to this bill.
Cosponsors
- Rick Scott R-FL
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Other bills by Jim Banks
History
- Introduced in the Senate by Jim Banks.
Show the full action history (2 actions)
- Introduced in Senate
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services.